How to Clean a Ping Pong Table : The Ultimate Guide

Just like you take care of any other piece of equipment related to ping pong, have you ever thought about taking care and cleaning your ping pong table?

Ping pong ball most of the times hits the ground and needs to be picked up, so therefore, it’s not clean at all. Then you use it to play with it with your paddle and on ping pong table.

That’s the way how ping pong table gets dusty and dirty easily, so now you understand why cleaning a ping pong table is important, but what is the best way to clean a ping pong table?

With this ultimate guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about cleaning a ping pong table.

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force

How To Clean a Ping Pong Table?

Whether you’re keeping your ping pong table in the garage, outdoors, or indoors, it will require a bit of cleaning to stay in a great condition and to provide the best play ability.

This is the simplest, easiest, and the best way to clean your ping pong table without damaging it at all.

You will need:

Soft cloth

Water

Vinegar

Bowl

Step 1

Get a piece or two of soft cloth and wipe the table off after every use. It will remove the dust, dirt, and debris that has been transferred on the able from the ping pong ball. If you play ping pong outside, the dirt might be more visible than indoors.

Step 2

Create a simple non-toxic cleaner which will perform a more in-depth cleaning of your table. Simply mix a water and a white vinegar in a bowl. You don’t need to do it very often, and every 2 to 3 months would be fine.

Step 3

Remove the net from your ping pong table, use the homemade cleaner with a cloth and simply clean the table surface. When you dip a dry cloth in homemade cleaner, squeeze it to remove all the excess water before cleaning your ping pong table.

Step 4

Before storing your table or assembling the net back to the table waiting for it to dry out completely. It shouldn’t take long at all. Once your table is clean, optional maintenance could be oiling all the moving parts in your table construction with a product such as WD-40.

If you don’t feel like making your own cleaner by mixing water and white vinegar, you can always purchase a specialized ping pong table cleaner from well-known brands such as Butterfly.

How Often Should Ping Pong Table Be Cleaned?

As I have mentioned before, wiping your ping pong table after every use will keep him in relatively good and clean condition.

Cleaning your ping pong table surface with a homemade cleaner or specialized cleaner should be one once in every two to three months. The table doesn’t get dirty that often, and when it does, it doesn’t get very dirty. Unless, you’re playing it outdoors and there’s mud around the table – in that case, you will get some mud and dirt from the ping pong table.

Oiling all the moving parts as a part of table maintenance should be done once in every four to five months.

Other Ways To Take Care of Your Ping Pong Table

Ping pong tables aren’t that cheap, and once you have one, you should treat it well.

There are specialized covers for ping pong tables that can be found and bought, if not in your local sports stores, then online.

They will protect your table from all weather conditions, sun and even UV light which is very useful to keep the surface of your ping pong table in the best possible condition.

If you don’t play table tennis often, a specialized cover for ping pong table would be highly recommended, but also for everyone else who uses their table on regular basis.

Just like you would cover your bicycle, car or a motorcycle, you could cover your ping pong table and in combination with cleaning and maintenance, you will prolong its lifespan. You will also keep it as new as possible, and if you ever decide to sell it in the future, you will be able to get a great price for it since it’ll be in an almost a brand new condition.

Conclusion

Ping pong tables are mostly made of wood, so you also have to be careful when you are cleaning them.

Be careful what you use, how you store it, and whether you maintain it regularly. You shouldn’t be lazy, and definitely, clean your ping pong table after each use because it will require less cleaning with a specialized product in the future.

A well-maintained ping pong table is a half of a great game, but as you would maintain your table, keep in mind that you should maintain your ping pong paddle as well.